Remembrance Day in Australia will be a day of significance this year. Sunday the 11th of November marks the 100th Anniversary of the Armistice, which ended the First World War in 1918.

In 1997, Governor-General William Deane issued a formal proclamation that would declare the 11th of November to be Remembrance Day. The proclamation urged all Australians to observe one minutes silence at 11:00am on the 11th of November each year. Today, the loss of Australian lives from all wars and conflicts across the world are honoured on Remembrance Day.

In other allied countries around the world such as New Zealand, Canada and the United States, the 11th of November is known as Armistice Day. This is a day to remember those who died in the First World War.

In Australia, flags are flown at half-mast as a sign of mourning and respect on Remembrance Day. Services across the country are held at war memorials at 11:00am, where the ‘Last Post’ is played by a bugler and one minutes silence is observed.

On Remembrance Day in 1993, Australia commemorated the day by laying to rest an Unknown Soldier in the Hall of Memory at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra. The Unknown Soldier was buried in a coffin made from Tasmanian Blackwood with his bayonet and a spring of wattle by him.

Red poppies are worn on items of clothing on the 11th of November to remember those who died during war. Poppies were amongst the first flowers that came from the battlefields of northern France and Belgium during the First World War. Sprigs of rosemary are also worn on Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day. The herb is recognised as a sign of loyalty and remembrance. Lest We Forget.

Image: www.pexels.com